Rock Collecting Lake Michigan.

 I have been mulling the idea over and over in my head for a while now.   How can I get Earth Science to be relatable and educational for the kids who are bored with Geology?  I mean,  Rocks bore the crap out of me!   Why should I expect anything less for kids trapped in school?  

The wrong answer is to not teach them anything.  Even I would be bored with that plan.   So the right answer (which happens to also be the hard answer)  is to somehow make it interesting and "fun" for them. How do I do such a thing?  

Well,  with the help of my retired partner in crime,   I set out on a mission to collect various rocks from along the Lake Michigan shore.  They are pretty, after all.   And plentiful!  And perhaps an idea or two might hit me along the way.   

After lugging about 50 lbs of rocks up and down the beach... in the sand and the summer heat,   I had an "Ah HA! moment.   Possibly induced by a minor case of sun stroke...  I'm still working out the details in my head, but I think it will add a touch of fun to the mineral classification process.  I shall keep you posted.  

Speaking of Cheryl,   we found a huge stash of beach glass again.   ( She collected glass while I collected rocks.) After several hours,  we headed to the Beer Garden for some Fish and chips and beer.   Not a bad way to spend a Birthday Weekend.  

The biting flies and mosquitoes were kept away by the HORDE of Dragonflies that hovered around.   I LOVE Dragonflies!   Not only are they the coolest thing to watch in the skies with their darting, hover and strike flying patterns;    Or their colorful green iridescence. But mostly because they hunt, kill, and eat the bugs that make the great outdoors not so great!   With the Dragons hovering around,  you know that you are going to have a peaceful outdoor experience.  ( Too bad they do not continue after dark.)  

Cheryl is back in Iowa as of the writing of this blog post.   We enjoyed a hot fudge Sundae on one of the last days of Summer.   Well,   Last days for me.   This next week is one of the last few days where I can tweak any lesson plans and hopefully formulate an idea on how I plan to accomplish this upcoming school year.   I shall continue to pray for inspiration and more "Ah HA!" moments as the lessons continue.  I'm sure God will not abandon me. (Hebrews 13:5)

And one final note:   This evening,  as I returned home from the Reach Service,   The Great Egret was out and about walking the neighborhood.  He was very "chill" and I was able to drive right up to him and take his picture from the window of the Silver Surfer Subie.  This is the closest I have ever been to one of these, so I was kind of excited.  And I might as well share the pic with the blog while it is still fresh in my mind.  

That weekend flew by way too quickly!   And it seems like the next few weeks are going to do the same.   I don't have much time before the School year begins. Now more than ever... I'm realizing every second counts.

Student Orientation Day!

 The First of two!  And it was FUN!   I got to meet a number of students and their parents.   My job was to simply hand them  a check list of items and stations they needed to visit and point them in the right direction.   Easy!   And during the process,  I got to chat with a few of them along the way.

And all this on a day where information was once again, coming fast and furious!   I admit that the feeling of being overwhelmed is getting a little old now.   Dare I say:  Familiar?  You think I would simply get used to it.   (And perhaps that is the entire point!  To be comfortable with being uncomfortable....) But after tonight....  There was a feeling of excitement that I have not felt in a long time.  

It is late... And usually I feel rather drained after meeting so many people.  (Especially strangers!)   But I actually feel rather "energized" from the ordeal.   Go figure.   I can't explain it other than God's hand is at work within me.   

I like that thought and feeling.

Still,  that being said, I should probably cut this post short and head to bed.  It has been a long day and I have been up since 3:45 AM!   So I should probably get some sleep.  

Oh!  And it was my Birthday today!   I almost forgot!  Funny how things like that get glossed over when you are focused on the fun.  

I just wanted to post a quick blog entry about the feeling.  If nothing else... To be a record of the journey and process of things.   A strong family.   A friendly culture.   And a loving and caring God to aid me along the way.   Praise be to Him!  For making every second count...  Amen!

The Happiness Of Chanterelles.

 I was having one of those days today....  where you think things are slightly spiraling out of your control...   Call it....  "Overwhelmed".  So I went out for some Forest Therapy.  Because nothing gets me calmed down better than a walk in the woods...  Usually alone.  

And then God reaches down and blesses me.   He has a certain way of doing it.   Funny how he seems to know just the right combination.  

First:  I found a ripe Mayapple/  I have never found a fully ripe one before;  mostly because everything wants to eat them!   But today, I found one and was able to sample an elusive fruit.    And it was wonderful!   Like a sweet plum!  But without any pit in the middle.   It was a great start to the nature walk. 

Soon after,  I found a few mushrooms.   Nothing terribly special.   A Field Bolete and a few Russulas.  But then....  Chanterelles!  

I thought the Chanterelles were over after my last forest find.  IT had been several weeks and I have not really been able to go out much at all.   And then there is the "competition" out there.   Those faceless folks who steal forage in my secret favorite spots.  Imagine my surprise when I started finding a few in a spot where I have never been successful before.  

And then there was the Deer!   Three of them.   A nice touch.  I like seeing animals and talking with the wild things.   They did not seem very afraid of me.   And rather than run off,   they decided to stop and stare for a while.    

And then I found the Mother Lode!  HUGE Chanterelles all around the deer.   After a while,  I wondered why the deer were standing there so long, and as they slowly walked away,  I wandered up to where they were standing.   HUGE numbers of Chanterelles!   So many I could not fit them all in my basket.  I ended up leaving a number of them in the forest, because I simply could not carry them out.   Looks like we will be enjoying he fruits of nature for the next few days.

During the process,  My worries disappeared and I simply enjoyed the moment and the fun of finding.   Funny how God can fix the day in the best possible way.  

I should also mention that I had been fishing a bit after the school meetings.   A couple small pnds around here have a large supply of greedy green sunfish.    And an occasional bluegill.   Nothing huge, mind you,    but lots of fun on a fly rod.  

Shoreland School Faculty Meetings are under way and there is that feeling that pops up where you think you are in over your head.   But I have had that feeling before in many other situations and managed to survive them.   So I guess I just have to let that excitement of teaching overwhelm the fear of failure.   And when I do that,  and pause to consider my purpose in this whole thing,  I find that those fears fade away to a distant background noise.  

That being said,  I will continue to pray for guidance and help every chance I get.   I find myself praying a lot lately.   And I don't think that is really a bad thing.   In fact, perhaps that is the whole point!   With God, everything is possible!   And after my latest personality evaluation,   I guess being a "True Believer" is my number one quality.  Well,  Having "faith" in my belief or something like that.   Core values....   

Regardless,  I shall continue to press forward and do my best.   Because I have already spent enough of my life building the foundation with failures and life lessons.   And with fewer days ahead of me than behind me...  Now more than ever...   Every second counts!

A Summer Update!

 It seems like an eternity since I blogged last!   I guess I have been busy with things and simply have not had time nor had the pictures to add to the blog.   But I find myself with an open Saturday at the moment.   The heat is pretty bad today, with 100% humidity!  ( That is what the weather channel says.. and it certainly feels sticky.)    Time to catch up on the blog and all of the things I have been up this last week and a half...  

Well,  the school thing has been getting more real every day.   I have been working on lesson plans and strategery for what I aim to accomplish for the kids.   I am teaching two subjects at the moment and most of the lesson plans have already been done for me.   I simply cut and pasted them into my plan book and now have a scaffold to work with.   That does not mean I have every thing wrapped up and am ready to rumble.   It simply means I can now build and work with something as I familiarize myself on what previous teachers did in the past.  If that makes sense...

Science can be rather boring if you stick to the book and stay in the class room.  And as much as I would love to play with fire and explosives out on the athletic field... You simply can't do that every day.   So I am trying to find the proper pacing to keep things real while still being fun.  After all,   Science is sparked by human curiosity!   And I want to make it my job to get that curiosity roaring so they can advance to the AP courses later on and have a focus and drive to help them through the boring math and calculations. 

So as I comb the you tube videos and national geographic archives looking for cool things to build and blow up,  I find that time seems to move faster without me realizing it.  I guess this is called "flow"  when you are in tune with your subject and methods.   I find that with Origami and blogging I can achieve the same thing.   However, that does make time slip by faster.

Getting a handle on the tech and software side of things is a bit of a challenge for me.   Most of the other teachers have been using these programs and tech for a while now.   I have not been in a classroom since  2000!  And MSU had the cutting edge of tech back then.   Now, things have warped by at light speed and I feel like I am playing catch up with a Saturn 5 rocket. Heck!  Even rocket tech has evolved past the point of science fiction! 

But enough about school!   Last weekend I spent with Cheryl beach combing and running in Milwaukee.  It was fun!   And we certainly scored on the beach glass!   Finding a new beach during a rough and windy day,  we scored nearly 2 lbs of glass!  Lots of fun!

That particular beach also had a beer garden and we were able to takes breaks and eat fish and chips while sipping draft beer.   Kind of cool!  

Dave is finally home now.   But before he got back,  he found the Painted Bolete somewhere near Cadillac Michigan.   He also found some very beautiful mushrooms that were not safe to eat.  But still an exciting find!  I have not been in the forest much at all this week, so the mushroom hunting has taken a back seat...

To Fishing!   

Although I don't have any pictures of fish to show... I have been having fun catching small green sunfish and crappies at a local pond.   And a Bonus!  They had live music there last Wednesday!  I think it may be a summer thing so there will be a new band there next week.  I'm guessing the music changes with each band.  But the music they played was my kind of groovy.  Rhythm and Blues mostly.   

I have been helping folks out while fishing at the pond.   Sometimes young kids ask me why I'm catching so many and other times, Dads or Moms ask for help in getting their 5-7 year olds into fishing.  I find many young kids don't have the patience for fishing if the fishing is slow.  But luckily, the pond is filled with small voracious sunfish...  which are easy to catch if you use light line and small baits. It find it almost more satisfying watching kids catch the fish rather than just catching them myself.  

Of course, to fish with small flies, I have to tie my own.   And I was fortunate enough to find a fly tying vice for cheap at one of the local fishing stores.  (Racine)  I'm not sure what those people in California do with their vices, but apparently they cause cancer there.   Good thing I live in Wisconsin!

And finally,   little by little,  my new teacher Uniforms have been showing up.   Gone are the days of safety vests and zebra patches!   I now get to dress like I had always wanted to... A Math Teacher!  

Well, not exactly.   Science is close enough I guess.   Math teachers wear brown suits and wide ties.   My ties will be a little less tessellation and more outdoor artistic.  I still have to buy several shirts to go with them, but I have a few weeks to gather up the rest of the package.  

And that is all.  Summer is nearly over and I have yet to do any chalking!   The last time was the 4th and that seems like ages ago!   But with all the rain that is even now predicted for Sunday,  I don't know if I will ever be able to smudge up any sidewalks soon. 

Time moves so quickly!  And with every day, I find my anxiety being replaces with excitement for the coming school year.   I hope and pray that it is everything I have ever wanted teaching to be.   Not only for myself, but also for the kids!   Because I was once sitting in those desks and listening to teachers, both good and bad!   And I found that the best ones were the ones who made learning fun and engaging.  To do that almost requires a touch of divine intervention and a bit of magic.  But with God on my side,  how can I possibly fail?  

The fields are ripe and time is fleeting!  And every second counts!

The Big Clean Continues!

 I'm not sure how many days I have been at this, but it seems like several at least!  I started in the basement;  Moved up to the Garage;  Then Back down into the basement again.  All I seem to be doing is moving the clutter from one space to another...  Like chasing my tail and never catching it. 

But progress has been made!   At least I think so.   I currently am at an impasse when ti comes to throwing stuff away.  Anything important looking I tend to keep, but broken plastic bins are scheduled for the dump or recycle thingy.  I am actually pretty proud on how the Garage came out.   I now have all of the poles that would go in the boat out in the garage... ready for action if there was an emergency fishing trip required. 

In the basement,   I reorganized the tools and fishing supplies so that there is easier access to the flyrods.  Getting the pallets attached to the wall was no easy task...  But very satisfying!

The small pile near the wall has to have Dave's approval before I remove anymore.   And the garbage bins are already overfilled, so there is no real place to put it anyway.   So, for the moment,  I think I am done...  OR at least on hold. 

It was not a big decision to work inside today.   It rained pretty much all night and the heat and air quality was off the charts awful today.   Staying inside and working in the cool basement seemed like a no-brainer. 

I did manage to head out last night, just before the rain storm,  and find some mushrooms!   I discovered that my spots that I had been checking everyday have been previously harvested by COMPETITION!   At first I thought it might be animals, but there was no mistaking the knife cuts on several chanterelle stems!  

It is not that big a deal. I'm just pretending to be indignant for the blog.    In reality, I am probably mostly to blame, since I tell everyone and anyone who will listen about mushrooms and where to find them.   I guess I'm mostly counting on people not having the courage to actually hunt, find and eat unknown mushrooms.   Which makes no sense if you stop to think about it.  Why tell people about your secret spot if you don't want them to pillage your secret stash?

Ah well,   we humans are greedy.   And as it was, my basket was already overflowing.   Even if I had found more, I probably could not have eaten them all before they would spoil.   So...  Happy to share with the unknown fellow mycologists. 

I made the mistake last night of making regular coffee instead of decaf.   I drank the delightful brew just before bed to help me sleep.   However,   I was wide awake until about 2 A.M.!   The good news is that I got to watch the storm as it rolled in AND I went crawler hunting around midnight.   I found a couple dozen night crawlers for future fishing trips.   (Hopefully later this week!) 

I have to say,  I am a little out of practice when it comes to hunting night crawlers.   I used to do it every time it rained back when I was a kid.   Those things are FAST!   But,  like riding a bike,  I picked it back up in no time and was able to find a decent number. Now I just have to keep them out of the heat of summer long enough to be used as bait. 

And that is about all.   A busy day for me, with very little outside moments.   I didn't get to run today,  (Because heat and rain!   Duh!)   But hopefully I will be back on track tomorrow.   My goal is to get the run out of the way before I have to head out to Shoreland for the orientation meeting.   At least I made decaf tonight.  

Oh!  And one final thought:   I heard they "immortalized" my vest and hat in the VAS cage.  Like a grave site or trophy of a previous victim.   (Hear lies the Great Ethan Allen...  A once moderate Zebra employee who spent his last days in the cage...)

The weeks seems to be flying by, and there is so much more to still do.    I'm finding more and more everyday that every second counts!